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Eight Parallels Between the Collapse of Rome's Republic and
Contemporary America

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as
farce."-Karl Marx

Lawrence Lessig's Republic Lost documents
the corrosive effect of money on our political process. Lessig
persuasively makes the case that we are witnessing the loss of
our republican form of government, as politicians increasingly
represent those who fund their campaigns, rather than our
citizens.

Anthony Everitt's Rise of Rome is
fascinating history and a great read. It tells the story of
ancient Rome, from its founding (circa 750 BCE) to the fall of
the Roman Republic (circa 45 BCE).

When read together, striking parallels emerge -- between our
failings and the failings that destroyed the Roman Republic. As
with Rome just before the Republic's fall, America has
seen:

1 -- Staggering Increase in the Cost of Elections, with
Dubious Campaign Funding Sources: Our 2012 election
reportedly cost $3 billion. All of it was raised from private
sources - often creating the appearance, or the reality, that our
leaders are beholden to special interest groups. During the late
Roman Republic, elections became staggeringly expensive, with
equally deplorable results. Caesar reportedly borrowed so
heavily for one political campaign, he feared he would be ruined,
if not elected.

2 -- Politics as the Road to Personal Wealth:
During the late Roman Republic period, one of the main roads to
wealth was holding public office, and exploiting such positions
to accumulate personal wealth. As Lessig notes: Congressman,
Senators and their staffs leverage their government service to
move to private sector positions - that pay three to ten times
their government compensation. Given this financial arrangement,
"Their focus is therefore not so much on the people who sent them
to Washington. Their focus is instead on those who will make them
rich." (Republic Lost)

3 -- Continuous War: A national state of security arises,
distracting attention from domestic challenges with foreign
wars. Similar to the late Roman Republic, the US - for
the past 100 years -- has either been fighting a war, recovering
from a war, or preparing for a new war: WW I (1917-18), WW II
(1941-1945), Cold War (1947-1991), Korean War (1950-1953),
Vietnam (1953-1975), Gulf War (1990-1991), Afghanistan
(2001-ongoing), and Iraq (2003-2011). And, this list is far from
complete.

4 -- Foreign Powers Lavish Money/Attention on the
Republic's Leaders: Foreign wars lead to growing
influence, by foreign powers and interests, on the Republic's
political leaders -- true for Rome and true for us. In the past
century, foreign embassies, agents and lobbyists have
proliferated in our nation's capital. As one specific example: A
foreign businessman donated $100 million to Bill Clinton's various
activities. Clinton "opened doors" for him, and sometimes acted
in ways contrary to stated American interests and foreign
policy.

5 -- Profits Made Overseas Shape the Republic's Internal
Policies: As the fortunes of Rome's aristocracy
increasingly derived from foreign lands, Roman policy was shaped
to facilitate these fortunes. American billionaires and
corporations increasingly influence our elections. In many cases,
they are only nominally American - with interests not aligned
with those of the American public. For example, Fox News is part
of international media group News Corp., with over $30 billion in
revenues worldwide. Is Fox News' jingoism a product of News
Corp.'s non-U.S. interests?

6 -- Collapse of the Middle Class: In the period
just before the Roman Republic's fall, the Roman middle class was
crushed -- destroyed by cheap overseas slave labor. In our own
day, we've witnessed rising income inequality, a
stagnating middle class, and the loss of American jobs to
overseas workers who are paid less and have fewer rights.
7 -- Gerrymandering: Rome's late Republic used various
methods to reduce the power of common citizens. The GOP has so
effectively gerrymandered Congressional
districts that, even though House Republican candidates received
only about 48 percent of the popular vote in the 2012 election --
they ended up with the majority (53 percent) of the seats.

8 -- Loss of the Spirit of Compromise: The Roman
Republic, like ours, relied on a system of checks and balances.
Compromise is needed for this type of system to function. In the
end, the Roman Republic lost that spirit of compromise, with
politics increasingly polarized between Optimates (the rich, entrenched
elites) and Populares (the common people). Sound familiar?
Compromise is in noticeably short supply in our own time also.
For example, "There were more
filibusters between 2009 and 2010 than there were in the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s combined."

About the Author: Steven Strauss was
founding Managing Director of the Center for Economic
Transformation at the New York City Economic Development
Corporation (NYCEDC). Steven was one of the NYC leads for Applied
Sciences NYC, NYC BigApps and many other initiatives to foster
job growth, innovation and entrepreneurship. He is an Advanced
Leadership Fellow at Harvard University for 2012. In 2010, Steven
was selected as a member of the Silicon Alley 100 in NYC. He has
a Ph.D. in Management from Yale University, and over 20 years'
private sector work experience. Geographically, Steven has worked
in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.